ASHES TO ASHES – DUST TO DUST

(Ecc 12:7) Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

And so it might seem that when we breathe our last, that the end has truly come. Such is not the case. Our exceptionally short 70 or 80, or 90 years living on this planet, wearing the tent of our bodies cannot begin to compare to the eternity that awaits us just beyond the horizon. The endless miracle of life promised through Jesus Christ, by our belief in Him, extends beyond the grave.

(1Co 15:42-44, 47) So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.

With a broken heart, God passed sentence on Adam's seed when a solemn trust between man and His Maker was violated. The sentence was death.

(Gen 3:19) By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.

God's sentence applied to the seed of Adam, and thus all born of woman through this seed shall die. Since we all are of this seed, we share this condemnation. It applies to all.

(Job 21:23, 25-26) One dies in his full strength, Being wholly at ease and satisfied; While another dies with a bitter soul, Never even tasting anything good. Together they lie down in the dust, And worms cover them.

Then Almighty God gave us His Son, to stand in our place, to suffer the consequences began by Adam's prideful disobedience. Jesus sacrificed Himself, and through the spilling of His blood He died a horrible and painful death that released those, who would believe on Him, from God's eternal wrath pronounced so many years ago. Through the perfect sacrifice of our Lord Jesus, those of us who believe on Him can be set free. We can be born again.

(Psa 16:9) Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely.

(Job 19:26) "Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God;

(Php 3:20-21) For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

(Psa 39:4) "LORD, make me to know my end And what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am.

(Psa 90:12) So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

Thus we humbly lift our prayers of thanksgiving for the gift given us by our Lord and Savior, the Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, AMEN.

HAVE YOU READ YOUR BIBLE TODAY?